Nanomedicine applications in women's health: state of the art

Abstract

State-of-the-art applications of nanomedicine have the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of a range of conditions and diseases affecting women's health. In this review, we provide a synopsis of potential applications of nanomedicine in some of the most dominant fields of women's health: mental health, sexual health, reproductive medicine, oncology, menopause-related conditions and dementia. We explore published studies arising from in vitro and in vivo experiments, and clinical trials where available, to reveal novel and highly promising therapeutic applications of nanomedicine in these fields. For the first time, we summarize the growing body of evidence relating to the use of nanomaterials as experimental tools for the detection, prevention, and treatment of significant diseases and conditions across the life course of a cisgender woman, from puberty to menopause; revealing the far-reaching and desirable theoretical impact of nanomedicine across different medical disciplines. We also present an overview of potential concerns regarding the therapeutic applications of nanomedicine and the factors currently restricting the growth of applied nanomedicine.

Keywords: dementia; menopause; mental health; nanomedicine; oncology; reproductive medicine; sexual health.

Figure 1

A representative graph showing the significant and predictable health care needs across the life course of a woman.

Figure 2

Nanoparticles in cancer management. Notes: Nanoparticle accumulation at the tumor site can be used to deliver (A) contrast agents such as dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or (B) chemotherapeutic drugs encapsulated in nanomaterials such as micelles. Reproduced with permission of Annual Review of, Volume 14 © by Annual Reviews, http://www.annualreviews.org. Albanese A, Tang PS, Chan WCW. The effect of nanoparticle size, shape, and surface chemistry on biological systems. In: Yarmush ML, editor. Palo Alto, CA: Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering. Vol 14. 2012:1–16.

Figure 3

A photograph demonstrating the black-dyed lymph nodes (shown by the white arrows) in breast tissue 1 day postinjection of nanoparticle carbon suspension. Notes: Scale bar is 1 cm. Reprinted from Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis, 67(2), Tang JF, Xu ZH, Zhou L, Qin H, Wang YF, Wang HH, Rapid and simultaneous detection of Ureaplasma parvum and Chlamydia tra chomatis antibodies based on visual protein microarray using gold nanoparticles and silver enhancement, 122–128, Copyright (2010), with permission from Elsevier.

Figure 4

Clinical applications of nanoparticle-based delivery system in women’s health. Nanoparticles have been used in drug delivery, imaging, and gene therapy. Abbreviations: TRAIL, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.